A majority of San Diego City Council members voted against holding a special election in November. Then they voted against it again. And again. And they declared those intentions at least a couple more times.

But there seems to be no “never” in politics, and the drop-dead deadline to set a special election isn’t until August. So if you’ve been looking forward to some hot fun in the summertime without hearing much about the proposed SoccerCity development and a hotel tax to expand the convention center and pay for homeless programs and road repairs, you may be out of luck.

Despite the council’s clear action in recent weeks on multiple 5-4 votes, some folks haven’t given up on a special election, though they at least acknowledge it’s on the verge of impossible.

All the arguments and all the information seemed to be exhausted several times over, so it’s hard to see what’s out there to convince at least one of the five Democrats to flip.

But Nick Stone, project manager for SoccerCity, suggests there is something new that may help him win the day.

It takes four votes to bring the issue before the council for reconsideration. Unless the dynamic changes, it’s a worthy question about whether the council would go through the entire process one more time for the same result.

By my count, there’s been at least three do-or-die votes by the council — at least that’s how they were billed by some advocates of the measures. A colleague suggested that you could argue there was a fourth vote, in a roundabout way, but let’s not quibble.

It’s not just the SoccerCity folks who are saying never say die. Some backers of Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s proposed hotel tax also think they might have a shot at turning things around in the coming weeks.

Clearly, both the hotel-tax and SoccerCity advocates will try to cut a deal with organized labor that could convince one or more of the Democrats to change their mind.

Some hotel-tax folks were holding out hope that Faulconer’s new incoming chief of staff, current chamber of commerce executive Aimee Faucett, could work some magic on that front for their cause.

But the nasty split that has grown in organized labor makes reaching any such agreement even trickier than usual.

Moreover, most if not all of the Democrats are more philosophically opposed to a special election than they are toward either proposal, at least publicly. They have noted that the huge approval of Measure L by voters last year underscores the public’s desire to have such big issues settled when the most voters turn out — and that’s in a regular November election.

It would take serious political contortions to come off that high ground if labor suddenly put on the heat.

How Faulconer’s budget cuts play into this

Faulconer got a lot of attention for what critics said was a move to punish some council members for their vote to delete the $5 million allotment for the special election out of the budget. He vetoed their action and then shifted some money around to restore the special-election funding. In the process, he cut money from the office budgets of council members Barbara Bry and Chris Ward, a project out of Councilman David Alvarez’s district and money for a new committee on the homeless created by council President Myrtle Cole and chaired by Ward.

Critics said it was vindictive; the mayor outlined how the money in his view would be better spent — including for a police officer retention program. However you size it up, it raises the question of whether such a move by the mayor further steeled council members in their positions. If so, that would make the very long odds of reviving the special election even longer.

Smarter than the average … district

The biotech mecca. UC San Diego. Upscale communities.

We’ve always known there’s a lot of brain power in Rep. Scott Peters’ 52nd District. Now the The New York Times reports that it’s one of the brainiest in the nation, ranking it the 10th best-educated out of 435 districts.

The Times said there are only 15 districts where at least half the adults have college degrees. Peters’ has 52 percent. The best-educated is New York’s 12th District, which includes parts of Manhattan and Queens, where 62 percent of adults have college degrees.

Most of the 15 districts are Democratic strongholds (including Silicon Valley, San Francisco, northwest Boston suburbs).

A notable deviation was Georgia’s 6th District, where Republican Karen Handel won Tuesday’s special election in a tight race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. The district had been reliably Republican for decades — the Times’ notes Mitt Romney won the district by 23 percentage points in 2012. Trump narrowly held the district by 1.5 percentage points, underscoring why it seemed even possible for Democrats to make a play there.

The coastal and central San Diego 52nd isn’t considered anybody’s stronghold and usually is viewed as a swing district. Democrats have a slight registration advantage over Republican registration, with independents close behind.

Peters has defeated some big names in his first two races and last year made comparatively easy work of a novice Republican candidate. So far, no substantial GOP candidates’ names have percolated up in political chatter for the next race.

As is well known, the new swing district — at least for the moment — appears to be up the road in what had been Republican territory: the 49th District straddling San Diego and Orange counties. There, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vitsa, barely won the political fight of his life last year and is looking at Round 2 next year.

Tweet of the week

Goes to Robert Krier‏ (@sdutKrier), Union-Tribune weather hawk, on Tuesday.

“Ocotillo Wells official high goes down as 124 deg., says NWS’ Noel Isla. That’s highest official temp EVER in S.D. County #sandiegoweather”

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City Council’s vote to not put the convention center expansion on the ballot this year and what it means for the SoccerCity proposal.

City Council’s vote to not put the convention center expansion on the ballot this year and what it means for the SoccerCity proposal.